In the last Case $D,$ the analyzed CRM unit, made of two part$-$time employees, focuses on

acquiring new clients through social networks and partnerships with other firms that own

personal data; including as well, a part related to the retention of these clients offering

customized products and services for each of them. As most of the newcomer companies,

also C$-$level some time take part to CRM activities. The CRM unit collects and uses users'

data to increase their pool of clients and to better serve them. According to the interviewed

manager of the area, all of the other departments draw on this area's knowledge to align

their strategy with reality, and therefore, make informed, fact$-$based decisions. They declare

themselves as very proactive in client acquisition campaigns. In $50\%$ of the cases, they are

able to spot new opportunities and make suggestions for the other departments, in the other

cases they are demanded to execute analysis, also related to likely financial regulatory

issues before launching new products that they make available on the market.

According to the CRM Director, the unit supports the executives who come up with

ideas," providing intelligence, which help the top managers to better understand the client,

the competitive environment and the financial regulatory environment. The Chief Executive

Officer, in regard to this matter stated that the CRM Director and their team had supported

him $"$in pivoting the business model and helped to completely change the market

positioning." In this regard, CRM analysts also seem to be aware of the relevance of their

role and the need to be exposed to information, namely, "our job is relevant to the company,

we know it and we need to be proactive, just like journalist to be in the right place in right

moment and collect intelligence." The objectives are defined at the top level, but they are

based on the analyzes provided by the CRM department. Every decision is based on data, the

interviewee declared. However, the CRM department does not participate in the strategy

definition directly nor actively; they mainly support decision$-$making via on$-$demand

requests. According to the Founder and CEO $-$ as they are a newcomer banking company $-$

our competitive environment is turbulent and needs a constant and strategic monitoring. To

this regard, the CEO underlines the need to be an open company, not only in looking for

external collaborations but also in terms of overall attitude to welcome all possible external

inputs to make sure we do not loose our closeness to customer needs.

Summing up what emerged from the interviews, CI alternatives do not focus just on the

tactical level, even if client acquisition is a great part of their daily activities. They have a

strategic road map ever more aligned with the different data needs at the various strategic

levels and they also developed a study to understand the gaps and data requirements for

each area. In Table $1,$ the main characteristics of each case have been summarized.

Following, the cross$-$case analysis and the critical findings are presented and discussed. Synthesise the findings with industry practice